How to let data-driven sales replace gut feelings and save you time.
Do you know who your ideal client is? If so, are you sure? Your gut feeling is not always right. Let data-driven sales help you avoid all those meetings that never lead to doing business anyway - and find the opportunities where they actually exist.
How much time have you spent preparing for a meeting only to leave with the feeling that the participants actually never really intended to do business with you anyway? They were just there to get valuable information from you.
Emma Wallin, expert on real-time sales and the voice behinde the Sellsation podcast, thinks at least half of every sales meeting is doomed from the start.
What if you could just forget about them in the first place?` Unfortunately, there is no silver bullet to succeed in every sales meeting. But through data-driven sales, the risk of failure decreases, according to Emma. It’s about collecting the right data and optimizing it so you won’t reach out to the wrong people. In other words, daring to opt-out.
Make data easier to interpret
“I meet many in sales who say “we have so much data, but we don’t know what to do with it.” It’s not until you actually have an effective process for interpreting the data, that you will benefit from it”, says Emma.
You can build systems weaving a web of business-related events - triggers that in turn increases the chance of a conversion. In part through solutions that connect different systems making data easier to interpret. At the same time aiming to increase the knowledge of where your client really is in the customer journey.
“Many sales managers focus solely on activity. A sales rep may run between twenty meetings a week. They aim wide - and sure, sometimes they score. But this is when it is time to choose maybe three segments and focus on just those. You’ll have fewer meetings, and have more time to prepare and do research.”
Create no-go-zones
It may feel wrong to discard potential clients. But sometimes you just have to take a chance. Sales reps should have low-touch or no-touch models dictating which companies not to call when the benefit is lower than the time it would take.
”We just follow specific triggers and Ideal Customer Profiles now,” says Emma. “Without it, we don’t book meetings. But when it happens, we react with lightning speed. And when we actually call, we know the client is likely to be in need of our services, making it easier to do business. It’s all about funnelling down a grey mass of companies.” Emma has seen conversions go from 5.1 percent to 24.8, this way.
Sales reps should have low-touch or no-touch models dictating which companies not to call when the benefit is lower than the time it would take.
Research your customer
Information once belonged to companies. Because of the internet, the power now sits with the client. The value of a sales rep talking about products and services diminishes when anyone can do their own research online. A study from Forrester shows 74 per cent of B2B-clients do half of their research online before meeting with a sales rep or making a purchase decision. As a result, it is more important than ever for companies to know as much as possible about their clients as well, To know when the time is right to reach out.
“I know when the time is right for us. It’s when our clients change sales managers, recruit new sales reps or when they are expanding into new markets. Every sales manager wants to increase sales, and this is when we get in touch. Data helps you see things in a new light and make a better decision, says Emma Wallin.
7 tips for success with data-driven sales
1. Identify your Ideal Customer Profile
Look at your existing clients and try to identify a connection between them. What segments do they belong to? Which clients are most likely to convert after a meeting? What type of people or companies buy your products and services? Which people have the most to gain from buying them? What is their turnover? In what situation do they buy - is it when recruiting or when they’ve just bought a new IT-system? Which type of client is most loyal? It’s not until you identify your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) that you can utilize data efficiently.
2. Do twin analysis
Identify companies similar to your existing clients. These companies may have the same needs as your current clients do, and, as a result, may be more willing to buy from you.
3. Organize your data
Emma talks about three types of data: internal data (from actively selling, CRM), behavioural data (lead scoring, triggers, personalized data) and external data (business information and information in the public domain).
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) may be a truly valuable source of information when used correctly. Do you use marketing automation or other types of systems? If so, check if you are able to sync your data sources in a smart way to get a better selection of clients to process. The aim is always to categorize your data even better for an improved process.
“Select one person responsible for all data. Preferably someone with an understanding of both sales and marketing,” says Emma.
4. Focus on triggers
These may be events like companies changing their VP, or a company hiring a person for a certain type of role. These are essentially events that make a company or individual more inclined to buy new services.
5. Look at your inbound process
What are you doing to manage data gathered on your own platforms? What are visitors to your site looking at, how long do they stay, and are they returning? If so, you should take action. If you have a chat function on your site, make sure a couple of people are designated to answer quickly. It’s at this moment that your potential customer is curious and ready to buy. If you don’t reply quickly a chat function may do more harm than good.
6. Presence on platforms preferred by your client
Find platforms that work for everyone. For example, young people may not want to talk on the phone and would rather chat with you and do their research online.
7. Use data to drive your marketing also
Don’t be stingy with your knowledge. Share whatever content you have relevant to your target audience in your own digital marketing efforts. Try to see it from the perspective of your customer - write about what they might want to read, rather than what you want to say. That way, you can attract more leads.
“For a scaling company to grow, it would normally require more than fifty potential leads in their sales funnel at any given time, a process that is difficult for a single entrepreneur or even a small marketing team to handle. This is the precise purpose of marketing automation: to streamline the process of using data from different channels to categorize leads and increase sales,” adds André Wesenberg. Coupler’s Swedish Country Manager.
